Cafe traverse rod assembly



Dec. 9, 1969 K. M. JOHNSON ETAL 3,482,618

CAFE TRAVERSE ROD ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 6, 1968 INVENTORS KENNETH M. JOHNSON ALBERT c. NELSON TTORNEYS United States Patent 3,482,618 CAFE TRAVERSE ROD ASSEMBLY Kenneth M. Johnson, Kensington, and Albert C. Nelson, Wallingford, Conn., assignors to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Aug. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 750,621 Int. Cl. A47h /32 U.S. Cl. 160-345 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A top slotted telescoping traverse rod having master carriers through which a pull cord is threaded for the manual opening and closing of the drapes. At least one of the master carriers is provided with a molded slide for releasably and positively gripping the cord for adjusting the travel of the master carriers. The slide has a pair of confronting walls joined at the bottom to form an upwardly open channel presenting opposed staggered teeth for gripping the cord. At the ends of the gripping portion, the bottom wall has an aperture through which the pull cord is threaded and end posts provide abutments for holding the pull cord between the teeth during use. A peripheral flange prevents the slide from passing through the top slot of the rod.

This invention relates to a traverse rod assembly for supporting draperies and the like more particularly to a traverse rod assembly of the cafe extension type.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved telescoping traverse rod assembly incorporating a means facilitating the adjustment of the master carriers relative to the pull cord and to each other and for securely locking the pull cord in adjusted position. Included in this object is the provision of an aesthetically pleasing cafe traverse rod assembly wherein the exposed portions of the rod members are free from unsightly structural and operative devices.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved slide member for a master glide which is devoid of movable parts and projections for locking the pull cord in adjusted position and which is inexpensive to fabricate and reliable in use.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal view, partly broken away, of the cafe traverse rod assembly incorporating this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top view of the slide of the master carrier of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view, partly in section and partly broken away, of the carrier slide of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the cafe traverse rod assembly embodying this invention is illustrated as being mounted on a wall by support brackets 11 and generally comprises an elongated telescoping rod of circular cross-section formed by inner rod member 12 and outer rod member 14. The assembly also includes a plurality of drapery rings 16 for the support of draperies, a pair of master carriers 18 which are movable to draw the draperies, a pull cord 20, and a plurality of pull cord guide rollers 22, 24 and 26 through which the pull cord 20 is threaded for the manipulation of the master carriers 18.

The inner rod member 12 and the outer rod member 14 are assembled in telescoping relationship so that the assembly may be adjusted in length to span varying distances between the support brackets 11. The rod assembly 10 is provided with a top guide slot 32 preferably formed by parallel downwardly turned flanges 28, 30 formed in the rod members 12, 14 respectively to define gently curved surfaces free of burrs which might otherwise be present if the slot edges were defined by sheared edges. This assures smooth, easy traversing movement of the drapery rings which are in sliding engagement with the slot edges. Also as shown, the end 34 of the outer rod member 14 is provided with a gently convex arcuate termination so that the drapery rings 16 may glide smoothly up and across this transition point without a perceptible change in the force imposed on the assembly at the transition point between the rods 12, 14.

The master carriers 18 each include a horizontal drapery supporting arm 36 positioned below the rod members 12, 14 secured to a pair of connector rings 40 by rivets 41. The upper end of the connector rings 40 are respectively secured as by rivets 42 to the ends of channel slides 38 and 38a respectively of the righthand and lefthand master carriers as shown in FIG. 1 to provide a rigid construction in which the drapery supporting arm 36 and the channel slide 38 or 380 are firmly mounted in spaced relationship parallel with the rod members 12 and 14. The connector rings 40 are similar in construction to the drapery rings 16 thereby permitting theupper part of the connector rings to be slidably engaged with the top of the rod members 12, 14 and the lower part of the connector rings 40 to be below the rod members 12, 14 so as to fix the drapery support arms 36 in alignment with the integral depending hook supporting cars 17 of drapery rings 16.

While the channel slides 38 and 38a of the master glide carriers may be of identical construction, the channel slide 38a in the illustrated embodiment is formed of a strip of metal having the central portion thereof depressed and provided with apertures to receive the knotted ends of the pull cord 20 and connected to connector rings 40 through guide blocks 44a so that the ends are not exposed above the surface of the rod.

In accordance with this invention, the channel slide 38 is preferably molded of a low friction tough plastic such as polypropylene and is provided with integral end posts or guide blocks 44 having a longitudinal concave and transversely convex upper surface forming a saddle to precisely position and securely mount the connector rings 40. The end posts 44 are interconnected by a pair of upstanding substantially parallel side walls 46 connected by a bottom web 48 spaced from the end posts 44 to provide apertures 49. The channel slide 38 preferably includes a peripheral flange 50 received within the hollow rod assembly to serve as a stop preventing the channel slide 38 from passing upwardly through the slot 32. The side walls 46 are provided with diametrically opposed staggered teeth 52 for purposes hereinafter more fully described.

When assembled at the factory, the conventional pull cord 20 is looped at the right end of FIG. 1 and threaded around and through the pulleys 22, 24, 26 and the channel slides 38 and 38a as illustrated. Upon installation, the rod members 12, 14 may be telescopically adjusted to the desired length and the master carrier on the left of FIG. 1 moved to a position at the center of the span between the support brackets 11. With the left master carrier so adjusted, the right master carrier 36 may be moved to a position abutting the left master carrier at the center of the span and the pull cord 20 raised above the teeth 52 of the channel slide 38. With the master carriers so adjusted and the looped end of the cord pulled taut, the master carriers are fixed in correctly adjusted position relative to each other and to the pull cord by the simple expedient of pressing the pull cord between side walls 46 which is sized to securely grip the cord between staggered teeth 52. Because there is substantially no axial displacement of the pull cord 20 due to the gripping action, it is a simple matter to selectively lock channel slide 38 without slack in the pull cord so that no further adjustment is required.

Disengagement of the pull cord 20 from the slide channel 38 is equally expeditious merely by lifting the pull cord 20 from between the opposed staggered teeth 52 so the pull cord is freed from restraint. Moreover by virtue of the fact that the pull cord 20 is held upwardly by web 48 and is looped through the apertures 49, and is held downwardly by the abutment of end posts 44, the pull cord is automatically retained in clamping engagement between the teeth 52.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that this invention provides an improved telescoping cafe traverse rod assembly of aesthetically pleasing design which may be extended to bridge any desired span and incorporates a simple but foolproof cord adjusting and locking device requiring minimal effort in obtaining and maintaining the desired adjustment on the travel of the master carriers.

We claim:

1. A drapery traverse rod assembly of the cafe extension type comprising an outer telescoping rod member, an inner telescoping rod member to be received within the outer rod member, a guide slot formedin 'said inner and outer rod members and extending substantially the full length of the traverse rod assembly, a pair of master carriers each having channel slides positioned within said rod members for slidable movement along the slot, a pull cord threaded through said channel slides to manipulate the master carriers for traversing the same along said traverse rod, at least one of said channel slides being provided with a pair of upstanding side walls having diametrically opposed gripping means for releasably gripping the pull cord when positioned therebetween, said one channel slide providing abutments engaging the pull cord at the end of the gripping means to maintain the pull cord positioned between said side Walls.

2. A device as recited in claim 1 wherein the side walls of said one channel slide form an upwardly open channel.

3. A device as recited in claim 2 wherein apertures are formed in the bottom wall of the upwardly open channel to provide the abutments.

4. A device as recited in claim 3 wherein said one channel slide is provided with a peripheral flange to prevent the slide from passing upwardly through the top slot.

5. A device as recited in claim 3 wherein a guide block for guiding the master carrier in the guide slot is provided at each end of said one channel slide.

6. A device as recited in claim 5 wherein the top surface of the guide blocks are transversely and longitudinally curved to provide a saddle to precisely position and securely mount connector rings seated therein.

7. A device as recited in claim 5 wherein said one channel slide is integrally molded from polypropylene.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,662,928 3/1928 Kirsch -345 2,786,522 3/1957 Weber 160345 3,095,033 6/1963 Polkosnik 160-345 3,157,225 11/ 1964 Freydberg et a1 160 -345 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner PHILIP C. KANNAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 1687.4 

